About the Author

Joe Rotter

Joe is the "blogger in chief" here at Red's in addition to being our guide service manager and partner here at Red's. He is a father of 3 spunky children his wife Kelly can only be found fishing when the temperature gets above 85 degrees and the fish are gobbling up dry flies.

In addition to being a fly fishing junkie, Joe is a hard core bowhunter, is a volunteer Hunter's Eductation Instructor, and loves riding horses with his kiddos. Joe still guides a small part of the time but spends most of his time working on web marketing, travel, and helping customers find the right tools and information for the job.

Klickitat River Summer Steelhead

August 31, 2014

The Klickitat River is in good shape and producing fish on swung flies and nymphs. We ran a handful of trip down there this past week and even got on fish that was recorded at 15 pounds which is the absolute trophy mark! I have yet to see a photo, but if anyone bumps into Craig C please teach him how to use his smart phone and send me a picture to share with you guys. I am told it was an incredible fish.

The forecast for the upcoming week looks great and the catch has been primarily Steelhead with an occasional Chinook in the mix. The Salmon fishing will go bonkers in the next few weeks and we'll get inundated with Kings much like last year in appears. If you have always wanted to fish for "Summer Steelhead" adorning shorts, sandals, and wet wading this is the time. We have guides available this upcoming week and a spontaneous trip could be one of your greatest memories of all time. If you haven't considered this trip, learn more about our Guided Klickitat River Steelhead Trips. The peak Steelhead season is approaching and our bookings are beginning to tighten up so please don't hesitate if this is an adventure that interests you!

Here is a report from my friend David from this past week, he did a DIY trip on the Klickitat.

Last week had daylight temps in the mid 90's and night time temps only as low as 62 on the Klickitat resulting in a river gone ugly.

Milky glacial till clouded up the water for two days. The daytime temps dropped into the 80's with night into the 50's allowed for the classic summer cycling to return. On Friday the river was slowly shaping up with still more color than I would like. So I switched tactics to mid range sink tip(type 6) for better depth, and a larger darker pattern (evil twin brother).....was just what this wild hen wanted. One of the hardest grabs I've experienced on the swing. Totally worth it!

Mutated dorsal fin=hatchery
Where can I find the fly you used? Evil Twin Bother. I don't tie flys, all if can find is instructions to tie , not to buy
Herb, I tie all my own flies. It resembles the Hobo Spey that you can order from Redflyshop.com For such conditions(cloudy-murky) ...I would recommend the Blue/Black color combination. Call the shop for more info, these guys walk the talk.